The Shattered Moon – a reminder to all of Remnant of its forgotten history – shined brightly in the sky over Beacon's Commercial District, where Yang Xiao Long walked down the stairway of Crescent Plaza, a group of mostly junior student girls guiding her along the way. They ate snacks together, many of them with ice cream, and Yang chowing on large multi-flavored mochi dumplings. The colorful lights, powered by Dust, cascaded against their hair and clothes, setting the mood for a fun night.
One of girls had just finished telling a joke, and Yang laughed through a full mouth, "Oh Gods! The guys here must be so dense!"
A Junior student patted her back, hard enough to make her choke a little, "Trust me! You'll find out for yourself."
Another girl added, "I once dated this guy, and his dad owned an Atlesian Shipment company. He totally thought he was going to 'become the next Schnee' someday. He was a jerk, but he had a nice butt though."
Yang's eyes widened, "You guys really have no chill in Vacuo, do you?"
"We just like to have fun! Hey, Look!" one of the girls pointed ahead, where a small bar with red lights over it's double door entrance read 'Junior's Club."
Yang stopped for a moment, "So, is this a club for Junior students? I'm just a Freshman. "
The girls gently pushed her forward, making their way toward the establishment, "No, No. Its Junior's Club. The guy who owns the place, his name is Junior. He's cool."
Yang ate the last of her mochi snacks, replying after she swallowed them, "He's a guy? Kind of a weird name for somebody that owns a club."
"A little bit." another girl said.
Yang was steps away from the door when she asked, "So how do these Malachite Sisters know about those thugs that attacked my little sister last night?
"They've been doing a lot of detective work." the shortest girl replied, the entire group stopping with Yang at the front door. "There's been so much crime in Vale lately, especially around Beacon, with the Black Market for Dust and all. Its affected everyone - especially them. But, the Valiant haven't found any clues, and its only getting worse. So, they started their own investigation. Ever since the attack, they've been dying to ask you questions!"
The girls finished their snacks, and Yang asked, "Why wouldn't you ask my sister then?"
"Silly, you have to be over sixteen to drink in Vale. Your sister's fifteen, so she's too young, but you're seventeen right? That means you can get in!" two of the girls grabbed the doorknobs on either side of the entrance. "They're very suspicious, so they meet here in secret, just in case the bad guys might be listening."
A girl standing beside Yang joined, "Its so sad we can't go with you. We're all too young."
Yang raised an eyebrow as the two girls in front of her opened the door to the bar, darkness inside accompanied by strobing white lights, and loud party music booming.
"Don't forget to have fun!" a girl said from behind her, pushing her gently by the shoulders until she was in the bar.
Yang gave a friendly protest, "Hey wait, I'm not so sure about this. Where are you guys going?" the girls began closing the entrance. "This won't be long will it? I have Initiation in a few hours."
In seconds, they closed the doors behind her, the girls gathering in front of it when it clicked shut. One of them wrapped a chain around the two knobs, pulling it tightly, sealing it in place with a pad lock. They all laughed, turning away from the door and taking a few steps away from it.
Then, from a shadow under the bar's roof, the figure of a woman with long, green hair stepped forth, heading to the group of students.
"Nice job girls." the woman met in front of them, holding out a large stack of Lien. "Here's your reward. How you share it is up to you."
"Thanks...what was your name again?" asked one of the girls, snatching the Lien from her hands, the others in the group fighting to get ahold of their share.
"You can call me, Em." the woman replied.
"Okay, Em!" the group stepped away from the scene, still fighting among themselves over the share.
"Take care!" one waved.
"Smell Ya Later!" another said playfully.
"See you, Em!" the tallest one looked back.
Emerald grinned as the girls walked up the stairway of Crescent Plaza, leaving her sight. Then, she returned to the shadows, disappearing completely as a ghost in the night.
…
Yang knew that something was amiss, hearing the sound of a pad lock sealing the door behind her. However, her curiosity was greater than her caution. She looked around the bar, familiarizing herself with it before going further. Everything was painted with black, with red lines crossing into square patterns that littered the walls. The corners of the chairs, counters, and tables were pure white, as was the strobe lighting up the floor. A dance square lay below a staircase at the entrance, older men and women – with few students in between – dancing energetically to the loud music. Beyond them was a man behind a bar counter, waiting above a small set of stairs; he wore a suit that matched the color theme of the bar, his hair slicked back and a thick beard that was trimmed well, pitch black. As the man cleaned beer glasses before several drunk attenders, he spoke to a mysterious man behind the counter.
"Must be the owner." Yang whispered to herself, stepping down the staircase and onto the dance floor. "Wait..." she looked at the mysterious man, wearing a beige coat, a black hat, bright orange hair pulled back and a cane in his hand. She thought she had seen him before, but she could not recall where.
As she walked through the dancers on the floor, bumping shoulders and tripping feet, she kept her eyes on the two of them. Though she could only see his hat through the crowd at first, she caught him stepping aside and leaving the room, taking another staircase that led into the back of the bar. Soon, she made it through the excitement and took the small steps up to the bar. The man in black and white watched as she approached, a bizarre eagerness in his eyes as he set a beer glass down on the counter and waited.
"You must be Junior?" Yang asked, sitting down on a stool with a smile, her elbows on the counter and her chin resting upon her gunshot gauntlets, Ember Celica.
The man replied with a friendly tone, "So you know who I am? Guess it was obvious." he walked around the counter, and he went to Yang's side.
Yang stayed still in her seat, looking him in the eyes, "Aren't you going to ask my name?"
"There's no need." Junior answered, his arms behind him.
"Tell me something..." Yang cocked her left arm, thrusting her palms downward and snatching his crotch tightly. Her grip was like a vice, and Junior leaned forward, a grunt of pain falling from his throat as he tried to breathe. "Where can I find the Malachite Sisters?"
Every dancer in the bar stopped, removing firearms from under their clothes of various calipers, each of them aiming at the Branwen girl, walking as close as they could to her. In moments, she was surrounded with guns, a hollow point Dust pistol nearly pressed against the back of her head.
Yang kept her eyes on Junior, and her grip as well. "Looks like we have an audience."
He laughed, his voice strained, "You stupid little bitch. You really are Raven's...ugh...daughter...but you don't have the brawn to back it up."
"Answer the question!' she squeezed his jewels tighter, and he winced in agony.
"They're right over there!" Junior answered.
He turned his head toward the entrance of the bar, and Yang did the same, finding two twin girls, both with green eyes and black hair, standing next to each other, watching from afar. One wore a beautiful, adorned white dress with tall, high heeled boots, apparent blades attached to the heels; the other wore a scarlet red dress with black trimming, a pair of red high heeled boots and long, steal clawed gloves over her hands.
"Melanie, isn't this the bitch?" said the girl in red.
"That's the Branwen girl, Militia!" the one in white replied.
Militia placed her hand on her side, leaning her hip the other way, "I don't know about you, but I'm excited to get paid!"
Melanie flipped her hair to the side, "Time to teach this Branwen brat a lesson!"
Yang commented as she stared them down, "You two sure like to use naughty words. I'll make you eat all of them. Anyone here brave enough for a one-on-one?"
The sister's grew angry, Militia lifting her hand in the air and screaming, "Now I'm mad! Shut her up!Fire!"
"Hey, wait!" Junior begged them not to shoot.
As the gunfire reigned down, Yang let got of Junior and jumped over the bar, ducking
her head low. Junior ran for a secret exit, barely escaping.
She had taken a few bullets already, but her Aura shattered them before impact, protecting her from most of them. It was a tough game to balance Aura - the essence of one's Semblance formed into a shield around the body - with the need to return attacks. When a Semblance was used to strike, it compromised the Aura, and when the Aura was focused, it weakened the Semblance. Yet, for Yang the game was the battle. Her Semblance, properly known as Burn, would store potential energy from oncoming attacks into her hair, causing it to glow. She could store an immense amount of power, then unleash it against her enemies in one destructive blow. But, it was not without faults. Storing the energy required concentration, which sacrificed the integrity of her Aura over time. The Aura itself was not impenetrable, and could only absorb attacks in proportion to her own Semblance's strength. If she became over confident, she could injure herself badly, and lose all of her stored energy in the process.
Assessing her odds, bullets flying over her head endlessly, she reached into the pocket of her leather skirt, removing a clip of ammunition from it, then loading her Ember Celica individually with them. It was only six shots in total, but it was enough to get by.
Suddenly, the gunfire stopped. She held her breath, and listened from behind the counter.
"Did we get her?" yelled Melanie.
"Is the bitch dead?" Militia questioned.
Yang did not waste the opportunity, quickly poking her head up from behind the counter, her eyes turning red as her Aura flared. Before anyone could react, she swung her fist in the air, sending a flaming bullet down into the center of the crowd, a large explosion erupting in the bar upon impact. It was a fraction of the potential of her Semblance. As bodies flew across the room, she followed with another attack from Ember Celica launching another bullet into the crowd. There was blood at every corner, and the screams now drowned the music out in the entirely.
Then, the assault rifles fired from the upper floors. A few bullets managed to break through her Aura, enough for the metal shards to make it through the skin. Her hair began to glow brighter, and her eyes turned from red to crimson. She punched the air in one direction at the upper floor, another explosive bullet sending her enemies to their knees. Then, she followed with another, this time on the opposite side, clearing the room of most potential firearm threats.
The Malachite Sisters jumped down onto the bloody dance floor, and screamed together, "Enough!"
The Sisters' Aura illuminated with red and white as they pressed their backs together. Yang threw a punch in their direction, sending a bullet their way, but the sisters jumped high up in opposite directions, avoiding the blast altogether. Melanie kicked her bladed heels down, a wave of razor sharp energy firing at Yang, Then, Militia sspun her clawed gloves around, sending a triple wave of similar energy at the Branwen girl..
There was no direction that Yang could go to dodge the attack. She held her Ember Celica in front of her face, screaming with rage, and the power of the Malachite Sisters' Semblance was swept down upon her. She was pushed back against the bar counter, her guard falling loose, and her Aura growing weaker. When the last wave of razor strikes passed through her body, her Aura faded. She felt a sharp pain in her side, and she fell to her knees, her hands on the floor. She looked down at her hip, blood soaking into her jacket, and down to her knees.
Yang held her head down, breathing heavily, unable to flex her muscles.
The Malachite Sisters landed gracefully back on the floor, then walked up to her, their heels being the only things in her ray of vision. They looked down at her, smirked, then laughed.
Melanie mocked. "Guess your mommy couldn't save you this time, Yang!"
"Cinder gives her regards." said Militia, preparing her claws for a final attack.
"It's been fun!" They said together. "Sweet Dreams!"
Yang chuckled, confusing the sisters for a moment, then infuriating them.
"Whats so funny?" they demanded an answer.
Yang looked up at them with a vicious grin, but this time her eyes were different than before. Her pupils were elongated, and her irises seemed to glisten like gems. Then, her hair rose up into the air, shining with a golden Aura surrounding it. Her Ember Celica began to burn, the metal radiating heat until it damaged her skin. She jumped up from the floor, her arms held tightly against her waist, her legs spread and placed firmly to ground.
It was the true potential of her Semblance, the skill that made her revered among all members of the Branwen Tribe.
"No one has ever cornered a Dragon!" she screamed, then let out a battle cry that deafened the sisters.
With a thrust of both of her fists, flames erupted everywhere. Outside of Junior's Bar, the walls around the entrance completely collapsed, the force of the explosion within sending debris all across Crescent Plaza. As the flames wilted away swiftly, the wind began to howl. Smoke and embers were the only things that remained of the establishment. From the ashes within, Yang emerged, her hand placed on her hip, covering her injury. If she was lucky, it would be more minor than it appeared. But, luck was something all too close to home. When she heard sirens going off from somewhere nearby, she limped away in the night, heading back to Beacon, in hopes to return in time for her Initiation.
…
The sun was just about to rise for morning, as Yang opened the door to the campus Ballroom. The guards gossiped over her wounds, as did many of the students moving about, readying for the day. But, she ignored them, instead looking to her sister, who lay on her back under futon blankets, an empty bed next to her. She stepped over books and weapons, until she crouched down over her sister and smiled.
"Hey sis, wake up." she said. "Initiation is about to start." she tapped Ruby's forehead. "Hey, feather brain? Don't you want to be a Huntress? Hey, Ruby?"
Suddenly, she became concerned, placing her hands behind her sister's head and shaking her gently.
"No, not again! Sis, wake up! Sis! Ruby!"
"RUBY!"
Her sister finally woke, opening her eyes very slowly. She looked up at Yang, furrowing her brows as she saw her sister's damaged cheeks.
"Yang..." her voice was weak from slumber. "You got hurt again."
Yang sighed with relief, leaning down and hugging her sister tightly, then laying her head back down on her pillow, "I'm okay Ruby, as long as you are." her eyes watered.
"Yang...I saw her again..."
"What did she say?"
.
.
.
"I...can't remember."